Chris Wallace pounds Trump aide over emergency declaration; makes mistake of bringing up Bush

White House

Sounding much like a Democratic lawmaker high on the power of a committee seat badgering a witness who fails to adhere to the party’s talking points, Fox News’ Chris Wallace repeatedly grilled Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller on President Donald Trump‘s declaration of a national emergency on the southern border.

Evoking the U.S. Constitution, Wallace questioned the constitutionality of the order.

“Article 1 section 9 clause 7 of the Constitution, as written, ‘No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law,’” he read.

“Isn’t what President Trump wants to do a clear violation of what the founders, of what James Madison talked about, in giving Congress the power of the purse?” asked Wallace.

 

Miller replied by citing the law that authorized the president’s actions, the National Emergencies Act, which was passed in 1976. His argument being the wall falls under military construction, based on the risks posed by illegal immigration.

Determined to undermine Trump’s authority, Wallace countered by asking for a single incident “where the president asked Congress for money, Congress refused to give him that money and the president then invoked national emergency powers to get the money.

Again, Miller told the “Fox News Sunday” anchor the order “specifically refers to the use of military construction funds.”

He asked Wallace to name a foreign threat causing more American deaths than illegal immigration, but Wallace wasn’t about to let the Trump official turn the tables on him.

“You know, the joy of this is that I get to ask you questions, you don’t get to ask me,” Wallace replied, with somewhat of a smile.

Miller continued to lean on the NEA as Trump’s authority as Wallace pressed. He also reminded the show’s host that Congress did not refuse to give the president money, as the spending bill did set aside $1.3 billion for the wall.

Wallace would fall back on a popular argument by the liberal media to question if a crisis exists on the southern border, noting illegal crossings were down significantly from the year 2000.

Throwing out the 2000 date prompted Miller to rip on President George W. Bush.

 

“As you know, when George Bush came into office, illegal immigration total doubled from 6 million to 12 million by the time he left office,” Miller said. “That represented an astonishing betrayal of the American people. I’m not gonna sit here today and tell you that George Bush defended this country on the southern border because he did not.”

Statistics show a significant increase in the illegal immigration population under the eight years of the Bush presidency.

Wallace also pointed out most drugs seized were at ports of entry, a failed argument when you think about it, given that it seems to proof that drugs are NOT being seized in the open areas of the southern border.

And while he accurately noted there are more visa overstays than illegal crossings, the stats he produced show 303,916 illegal crossing in 2017.

That’s well over a quarter million people coming into the country and we have no idea who these people are, or their backgrounds — 832 people a day. Every day. 365 days a year.

All of which makes you wonder exactly what does it take to qualify as a crisis?

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Tom Tillison

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